


Stronger Together than Apart

by eveningstar477



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Angst, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nausea, Not Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Compliant, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Post-Season/Series 02, Post-Season/Series 02 Finale, Vomiting, post-shooting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26450947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eveningstar477/pseuds/eveningstar477
Summary: Peggy and Daniel are with Jack when he wakes after surgery, and are there through all the physical and emotional struggles that follow in those first few hours.
Relationships: Daniel Sousa & Jack Thompson, Peggy Carter & Daniel Sousa & Jack Thompson, Peggy Carter & Jack Thompson, Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa, background PeggySous - Relationship
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	Stronger Together than Apart

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Quo Vadis?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3804475) by [Paeonia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paeonia/pseuds/Paeonia). 



> I don't know how I feel about this. It started out as a coherent thought, and then it dissolved into a rambling mess. Honestly, I have no idea if the whump is an excuse for the character analysis or the character analysis is an excuse for the whump. Either way, don’t expect this thing to actually have a coherent plot line XD. 
> 
> Slightly inspired by (I believe it's chapter 4?) the wonderful Paeonia's Quo Vadis, where Daniel wakes up from surgery and experiences post-op nausea.
> 
> Warning for extensive discussion of nausea and one brief mention of vomiting.

Jack blinked once, still submerged in a hazy state of awareness, like he was floating on a cloud. He tried to move his head, and suddenly, pain flooded his senses, sending everything grey and spinning, and he gasped sharply. Memories came with the pain - looking down the barrel of a gun, a bullet knocking the breath out of his lungs, blood everywhere, and then darkness. Hospital. He must be in a hospital.

There was a flurry of activity at his bedside, and when the pain began to subside, Jack became aware of a two distinct hands; a smaller one clutching his fingers, and a larger, warmer one resting on his upper arm. When he opened his eyes again, squinting at the bright lights, he was rewarded with two very concerned and relieved faces. Peggy was standing, holding his hand and looking desperately happy. She was without makeup, and her hair was messier than he’d ever seen it. Daniel was still seated, but leaned forward expectantly, a smile on his lips and his hand comforting on Jack’s arm.

He was surprised they were here, but he supposed he should have expected it. Peggy Carter was a force to be reckoned with, and apparently threatening to blackmail her hadn’t changed her opinion that he was someone she cared about. He couldn’t fathom why, but it was nice to have her around. And Sousa, of course. Despite their early troubles and their still near-constant bickering, they’d grown closer while living on opposite coasts, complaining to one another about the challenges of being Chief.

For whatever reason, they’d decided to stay. And he was grateful. It was probably the drugs, but he had the sudden urge to make sure they knew how he felt. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a croak. Peggy gasped “water!” and practically lunged over Daniel for a cup on the bedside table.

In what probably should have been awkward but was actually strangely nice, Peggy cupped a hand behind his head and helped him to take a small sip. However, the water hit his stomach and it suddenly lurched. Jack swallowed hard against the sudden rush of nausea, and turned his face away from the cup.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Peggy’s face crumple. Her forehead creased into a worried expression again, and she left no room for argument when she said “Jack, you need to drink something. You’ve been out for nearly two days.” Jack fixed her with as angry of a look as he could manage. Daniel interrupted their standoff by shooting Jack and knowing look and putting a hand on Peggy’s arm. Gently, he asked her, “How about ice chips instead? The nurse probably has them.” Peggy gave a determined nod and exited the room.

That left Jack alone with Daniel and his knowing stare. Jack’s muddled brain couldn’t figure out how Daniel seemed to just _know_ that he didn’t feel good. He - oh. Oh, _of course_ Daniel would know.

“Nauseous?” Daniel asked, still with that eerily calm look on his face. Jack flushed, embarrassed, but nodded meekly. Daniel gave a little smile. “Yeah, that’s pretty standard after surgery. Anesthesia does some weird stuff. Ice might help everything settle; Peggy should be back soon.”

Damn these drugs. Jack can’t help himself. “Did you….did this happen to you?” he asks, and then immediately regrets it. It’s too personal - though he’d never admit it to Sousa, he felt bad about the way he’d acted in those early days at the SSR, when they were both new and both suffering from the war’s scars - and so he’s tried to avoid actually having a conversation about the leg.

Daniel, though, just hums affirmatively. “Yeah. Spent a good 24 hours or so with a basin in my lap. Never hurled, though,” he notes with a self-deprecating smirk.

Jack swallows hard. Though he’s loathe to admit it, he’s really starting to think he might need a bowl or something like Sousa mentioned. “Feeling like that might not be the case here.”

Daniel used the arms of the chair to carefully lever himself up and took a halting step towards something on the bedside table, behind Jack’s line of sight. Suddenly, it hit Jack that Daniel was just as disheveled as Peggy was - his hair was unruly, and there were bags under his eyes. He was moving stiffly, and Jack knew that Daniel didn’t do well with sitting in one spot for a long time. Clearly, though, both he and Peggy had stayed.

“Why-“ he broke off to give a little cough, and winced when it sent a wave of pain through his chest. Ugh, if he puked it was _really_ going to suck. “Why’d you stay?” Propped up as he was against the pillows, he couldn’t see Daniel’s reaction, but he heard Daniel’s gait stop momentarily before resuming.

He didn’t answer for a time, instead making his way back to the chair and leaning over to place in Jack’s lap what he’d retrieved: a plastic basin. Once Sousa had settled himself back into the chair, he fixed Jack with another one of those open, trusting looks that made Jack distinctly uncomfortable.

“Look, Jack. I know we don’t agree on everything. Hell, we’ll always find things to fight about. And I haven’t forgiven everything that happened between us. But I’d like to think that we’re past that. And that we’re friends.”

Jack could only stare. There was a lump in his throat, and not just because he felt sick. Daniel was right. At some point, the two of them had gone from barely tolerating one another to _friends_. With Carter, it was easier - the turning point had been Russia, where she’d earned his respect and he’d trusted her with his darkest secret. Sousa was different. Somehow, they’d just…grown together. And now the man who he’d tormented is sitting at his bedside. Has been, waiting for him to wake up.

Jack was saved from having to respond by Peggy, whose heels clacking down the hall alerted them to her presence before she even came around the doorframe. She was smiling, a cup of ice chips with a spoon sticking out in her hand, but her face fell when she took in the scene in front of her. And what a sight the two of them must be, Jack thought to himself with a smirk. Him, a ghost-like, frail figure propped up on pillows so that his lungs didn’t have to work so hard and a puke bowl in his lap, and Daniel, perched on the chair with the look of someone engaged in a very serious conversation.

Peggy only remained frozen for a moment, quickly adopting her typical, brisk, no-nonsense manner. “I see the anesthesia isn’t doing you any favors,” she noted with a nod toward Jack’s lap, “the nurse mentioned that nausea and vomiting might be a problem. She said ice chips are generally better than water, but you already knew that, didn’t you,” Peggy added with an accusatory look at Daniel, who gave her a sheepish smile in return.

She took the chair on the opposite side of the bed from Sousa, opposite his wound, and proffered a spoon of ice. “No need to feed me, Marge,” Jack said with a smirk, but when he took the spoon his hand shook so badly the ice slid off and onto the blankets. Oh, God, if today hadn’t already been embarrassing enough. Horrifyingly, Jack could feel his throat tightening and his eyes starting to prickle, the exhaustion and pain breaking any barriers he tried to put up between his emotions and his face.

“Oh, Jack.” Daniel, steady as ever, reached out and clasped his hand. Against his own clammy, cool skin, Daniel’s warmth was grounding, and yet the pleasure it brought somehow managed to remind him that he was a mess, and tears began to overflow, rolling down his cheeks. Peggy, who’d been retrieving ice from the bed, hastily set aside the cup. After a moment’s hesitation, she enveloped him in a hug.

Jack stiffened at first, unaccustomed to physical affection, especially from Peggy, being the strong woman that she was, but soon crumpled into her arms, going limp as an involuntary sob escaped him. It hurt to cry, but it was also a reassurance that he’d lived, and that Peggy and Daniel hadn’t left him, even after he’d practically betrayed them to Vernon. Peggy continued to hold him as he cried, until one of his sobs turned into a gag.

Abruptly, Peggy pulled back and, with her usual lack of grace, _shoved_ the bowl under his chin. Jack was vaguely aware of what he thought was Daniel’s hand on his back before he heaved and the world went white with pain.

…………………..

It was deja vu. The next time Jack regained consciousness, Peggy and Daniel were still there. Only this time, they were both asleep - and Peggy’s head was on Daniel’s shoulder. He smiled a little to himself. Seemed that torch Sousa’d been carrying wasn’t as one-sided as everyone assumed.

Jack gave a little cough, and both Peggy and Daniel jerked awake almost comically fast. He watched the relief spread across their faces upon realizing he was awake again.

“What happened?” he croaked. “Last thing I remember was…” he felt his face flush with embarrassment as he remembered. He’d cried. All over Peggy. Fortunately, she seemed equally eager to skip over that little incident.

“You puked, then promptly passed out,” she informed him. “Are you feeling any better now?”

Jack took a second to take stock of himself. “Well, I’m not nauseous anymore, if that’s what you mean.” Daniel gave him a knowing look. “And what about pain?” he asked. Jack pursed his lips, then noted, “yeah, kinda feels like my whole side’s on fire.”

Peggy stood. “I’ll go ask the nurse about another dose of morphine.”

“Peggy, wait. Thank you. Both of you.” Jack said, looking sincerely between Peggy and Daniel. Peggy gave him one of her fond smiles, and Daniel grinned. “Don’t thank us yet. Rehab’s a bitch.

Peggy’s bright laugh filled the room, and Jack found himself grinning too. He still wasn’t quite sure how the three of them had gelled, but one thing was certain: they’d proved it was pretty hard to break them apart.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought! Comments are very much loved!
> 
> I'm on Tumblr now! eveningstar477.tumblr.com


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